A telecommunications network can be of several types, including mobile telecommunications networks and fixed telecommunications networks. Mobile telecommunication networks may include telecommunications networks hosted on networks of cellular stations and mobile telephones, pagers, radio-devices, and other infrastructure and portable devices which allow a user to communicate wirelessly. Mobile telecommunications networks also include those networks hosted on satellites and portable ground stations, vehicle-mounted communications gear, and handheld devices.
Fixed telecommunications networks may include telecommunications networks hosted on public switched telephone networks (PSTN), land lines, and wired infrastructure within businesses and homes. Fixed telecommunications networks may also include those hosted over the Internet or local internets connecting computers, network appliances, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones, and other devices.
Telecommunications services, which are also referred to hereinafter as “services,” may include services such as voice mail, call conferencing, presence detection, and call hunting. Services are typically provided by service providers.
An Operations Support System (also referred to as an operational support system or OSS) is a computer-based system used by telecommunications service providers. The term OSS most frequently describes “network system” dealing with the telecom network itself, supporting processes such as maintaining network inventory, provisioning of services, configuring network components, and managing faults. The complementary term a business support system, or BSS, is a newer term and typically refers to “business systems” dealing with customers, supporting processes such as taking orders, processing bills, and collecting payments. The two systems together are often abbreviated OSS/BSS, BSS/OSS or simply B/OSS.
Business support systems (BSS) are the components that a telephone operator or a cable operator or a satellite operator uses to run its business operations towards customer. BSS and OSS platforms are linked in the need to support various end to end services. Each area has its own data and service responsibilities.
Different subdivisions of the BSS/OSS systems are made, depending on whether they follow the TM Forum's diagrams and terminology, industry research institutions or BSS/OSS vendors own view. Nevertheless in general, an OSS covers at least the application areas: network management systems, service delivery, service fulfillment, including the network inventory, activation and provisioning, service assurance and customer care.
An OSS and a BSS can run on the same computer or computers and may be integrated with each other. Also, OSS and BSS may have separate or shared database repositories.
A BSS repository may store customer information from a service provider point of view, such as customer address information, customer billing information, products purchased by the customer, and campaigns to which a customer has responded. A BSS repository also can include subscription information for a customer, such as information for any voice, wireless, or roaming plan, as well as number of minutes purchased per month, etc. Such information is treated as product information from a BSS point of view, and the BSS repository also will include information as to whether a particular customer is subscribing to that product. If, for example, a customer subscribing to a new subscription is entitled to a new phone, that information typically will be maintained in the BSS repository. A BSS repository also typically is used to maintain trouble tickets, such as information regarding problems with service or failure to receive a form, as well as maintaining security credentials.
An OSS repository, on the other hand, is used for monitoring and administration of the system or other OSS operations such as charging/rating and activation provisioning. An OSS repository can also contain subscriber information such as information for the current and active bill for a customer, an inventory of assets associated with a customer, types of products or services provided to a customer, etc. A repository at the network level might include current network information for a customer, such as whether the customer is logged onto the network, a location of the customer on the network, whether a customer device is active, etc.
A service resource such as a Service Delivery Platform (SDP) repository. The term Service Delivery Platform (SDP) as used herein, usually refers to a set of components that provide a services' delivery architecture (such as service creation, session control and protocols) for a given type of service. The business objective of implementing the SDP is to enable rapid development and deployment of new converged multimedia services, from basic POTS phone services to complex audio/video conferencing for multiplayer games (MPGs).
In telecommunications, service providers not only deal with the networks assets, platforms, and services, but must also support business processes to provide services to their customers and interact with their partners and suppliers, as well as operational processes to monitor and administer these assets. Tools, infrastructure, data repositories, and applications for performing these tasks are referred to as service provider business support systems (BSS) and operational support systems (OSS). BSS typically includes resources that support the business aspects (e.g. CRM, PRM, ERP, Analytics, financial, revenue management) while OSS supports the execution of the business with aspects like monitoring, management, and administration; resolution of trouble; billing and/or charging; provisioning; activation; fulfillment; etc.) In any service provider, services and runtime interact with OSS and BBS. Today, OSS and BSS are often complex archaic systems designed for legacy networks where services, hardware, and network resources consist mainly of static components.
However, one of the problems which arise in such environments is the verification of the correctness/completeness/validity/legality of transactions which relate to certain applications.